Around December 27, 1879

It was April 3rd, 1880. Ellen E. Dickinson was about to record the official statement of Mrs. Matilda Spaulding McKinstry's, describing her understanding of the connection between her father's Manuscript Found and the infamous Joseph Smith's Mormon Bible. The connection between the old romantic manuscript and the piece of religious writing was about to expose the real, and far less celestial,...

On September 19th a dispatch to The Enterpirse and Mountaineer of Greenville, South Carolina reported that The commercial circles were much agitated to-day by the announcement of the suspension of the banking and exchange house of James Adger &Co.' The failure of this bank was not only a significant financial blow to Charleston, but was also part of a larger story about the weakness of...

Prior to 1879, the Greenback Party had burst onto the political scene and presented a truly unique and radical voice in American politics. Although the Greenback Party's roots were with the miners in the Rocky Mountain States and with the farmers of the Midwest, the depression in agricultural prices following the Panic of 1873 allowed the party had made significant inroads among the Southern...

To usher in the start of classes on September 20th, 1877, Norwood High School and College issued their mission statement for the upcoming school year. The brochure spoke of the school as one of the finest training schools in the South (as well as the world) in producing fine, intelligent, young gentlemen ready to enter the world. The brochure reports that the school's emphasis on creating...

Lily Suner wrote a letter to her brother on August 12, 1879 regarding Jule, an African American in need of legal help. Jule appeared to be related to the siblings in some way, since the brother was in a position to tell Jule's children and wife that he sent his love and Suner was in communication with him. The letter began with Suner chiding her brother for not writing to her in Alexandria,...

Atlanta, Georgia set off a miniature gold rush. Newspapers in the region responded to the bonanza by publishing detailed articles about the development of gold mines in the region. One such article appearing in the Enterprise and Mountaineer of Greenville, South Carolina on December 24, 1879 declared that the Pigeon Roost mine would be the largest and most productive mining camp this side...

Racial tensions rose to the boiling point after a black citizen named Floyd was lynched by a white mob. In response to the perceived threat of a black race riot in reprisal for this atrocity, parties of well armed men' descended upon the city, while the neighboring city of Richmond sent six deputy sheriffs to restore order.' In addition to this the city of Houston escalated...

On June 8, 1880, Albert Roberts sat down at his desk at the office of P.J. Willis in Austin, Texas. He began by scribbling, Dear Ma. Telling her about his life and any recent news, Roberts read back over the letter and slipped in twenty-five dollars to send his mother. Times were hard; Roberts explained in the letter that this amount was all that he could spare that month, but encouraged her to...

Dissatisfied with local politics, editor of the Richmond Whig and secretary of the Virginia Commonwealth, William C. Elam, publicly criticized the Virginia Democratic Party in an article titled "Political Poems." Insinuating the party had simply shed the name of the old Conservatives and portrayed themselves as Democrats, Elam blatantly insulted every Virginia leader since 1860....

After five years of construction, James Eads jetty system officially succeeded by lowering the depth of the Mississippi river to 30 feet at its mouth. This accomplishment allowed for the port of New Orleans to accommodate the larger ocean-going ships of the 19th century. In 1883 this improvement would be complemented by the beginning of regular freight routes through New Orleans by the Southern...